ESO and East Asian Observatory Meet for First Time

Astronomy has undergone rapid growth in the East Asian region over the past two decades. Very strong astronomy programmes now exist in Japan, China, Korea and Taiwan. Together, these regions are operating and building some of the most advanced instruments in astronomy.

In 2005, the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), together with the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), formed the East Asian Core Observatories Association (EACOA) in order to promote collaborations and cooperation, and to share regional resources and manpower. In 2014, EACOA formed the East Asian Observatory (EAO), a joint observatory for East Asia. Its mission is to be competitive internationally in building and operating the largest and most advanced astronomical facilities.

EAO aspires to be the counterpart to ESO in Asia. On 4 May 2015 the ESO Director General, Tim de Zeeuw, visited ASIAA in order to meet the EAO Directors, including the EAO Director General, Academician Paul Ho, former Director of ASIAA. This was the first time that the two organisations had met. The potential for collaboration and cooperation between east and west was one of the important topics for the meeting.

The Director of ASIAA, Professor You-Hua Chu hosted this gathering, and all the leading astronomers in East Asia came to Taipei, including NAOJ Director General Masahiko Hayashi, Korean Astronomical Society President Young Chol Minh representing Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), International Astronomical Union (IAU) President Norio Kaifu and the Director of the Kavli Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University (KIAA-PKU) Luis Ho.

Courtesy of European Southern Observatory